Anti-library
The project started approximately thirty years ago, inspired and put in place by a ragpicker.
Every time the beggar in question searched for food into the trash bins outside a publishing house, he bumped into discarded manuscripts of rejected novels which he collected thinking they could be used as a fire kindling for the cold winter nights. Before burning them, however, he decided to read a few to pass his free time. To his great surprise, he realised that many rejected manuscripts were quite interesting. This is how he came up with the idea of an “Antilibrary”: an exposition area for all the books he had already collected and those he would pick up in the future.
Suddenly, his life acquired a vision. He recruited more beggars to his cause persuading them with promises and lies. Soon enough, a legion of homeless people was raiding the trash bins of every publishing house looking – beyond partly deteriorated cans and food leftovers – for the spiritual work of unknown writers.
The outcome was astonishing: in a few months’ time the Antilibrary was ready for its opening. The books were exposed in an abandoned paper pulp mill, since such alternative venues succeed in attracting public attention. Indeed, the people’s response was so intense that within a few more months more “Anti-libraries” opened all around the world.
Nowadays, the ‘regular’ libraries are withering. No one visits them. The traditional bookstores have closed down while the majority of publishing houses have turned into super markets. This is why, people are now seeking the joy of reading withinAnti-libraries. However, this trend is destined to wear away too. How will Anti-libraries be able to feed on without publishers throwing away manuscripts?
The plan inspirer, a former ragpicker and current president of the world anti-librarian union, says that every writer should anyway throw in the garbage their work once it is completed. The finding process is going to be harder, but this is the only way to carry on the system.